Through New Eyes
by A-Terrible-Trio
Summary: What will happen to Ruby when she is thrust into the world of her favourite fictional witches and wizards? Will she find the power within herself to rewrite the past and change the future or is the story too set to be rewritten? OC AU CHAPTER 6 IS UP!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter. Believe me though, we sure as hell wish we did.**

Note: This is a Parody. We are very aware of the fact that even in the wonderful wizarding world, people don't just get sent back in time to an alternate universe. Though, we can't say the same about Doctor Who, (that was a low blow) Supernatural... you get the idea. The vague plot of this story (without giving too much away) is that a very lucky Potterhead (who runs a very quality blog) manages to get sent back into the world of her favourite stories. All said and done, we hope you enjoy our story.

Susie, Ally and Rosa.  
A Terrible Trio  
P.S Don't flame us for any HP opinions stated, they're jokes, we promise. They probably don't reflect our own, although some of them might.

Prologue- Um... Bad luck perhaps? My life is kinda totally over forever.****

Moving to anywhere from any place sucks. Or at least it does when you're a kid who has no desire to be anywhere other than the place they've called home for the last 16 (well almost) years. Add in the fact that I'm not just moving hundreds of miles away from all I've ever known, but out of the best city of all time, oh and all my friends.****

Who wouldn't be upset moving from London (the most diverse place in the world) to Surrey, home of garden centres and tea shops? Where on my sixteenth birthday, I'll be alone all day, no friends in sight, parents settling into their new jobs. Sounds fun doesn't it? And after planning the summer of a lifetime with my best friend Maddy, including: Boyfriend hunting (the fictional type), ice cream, and hoping for good exam results; I was going to be very lonely, at the very least. That much was certain.****

Suddenly realising what I was doing was like a punch to the head. The patheticness astounding, even for me. The angst comparable to Bella when Edward left her-ridiculous. It wasn't like it was the end of the world- that had already been predicted for December, it was just the end of my world. Which, putting into context, involving the universe and everything, was unbelievably superficial-even for a teenage girl.****

Shoving thoughts of me being ungrateful to the back of my mind, I grabbed my fluffy toy snake, (which had my Slytherin scarf wrapped around it) and brought it to my chest in a tight embrace. I had had Longbottom (yes, I do see the irony) since I was 6, as it was my favourite animal after I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone. Not quite understanding the book all too well I had dismissed it as boring and taken the name Longbottom for my snake because it seemed like a name a snake would have. Only a year later, coming across the book whilst tidying my room, I had taken up the task of reading it again, upon advice from my mother and quickly become obsessed.****

Mum introducing me one of the many reasons, she, along with my dad are amazing. Time and time again they had sacrificed their own wants and needs for mine and saying I was eternally grateful would be an understatement. Adding in the small fact of them putting up with my...addictions? Is that not too harsh a word? Either way it's pretty accurate, and they don't seem to mind. Hell, if anything they supply the fuel to it, providing me with all the books and films, along with some extras, such as my Slytherin scarf. All this making them truly wonderful people and parents.****

Of course all this is not to say they are always right, in fact every so often many incredible people make horrible mistakes. Such as deciding to move to Surrey, I mean for god's sake! Why?!****

Almost instantly I realised I was starting to angst again and rapidly chased my thoughts to the good side of things. After all, in every fist-clenching situation there is always one silver lining. Mine being the street we're moving to, the one amazing, delightful place in the whole of Surrey. We are moving to...wait for it... Privet Drive. I kid you not. Me, like I assume most other Potterheads, thought Joanne had made it up, had chosen a random name and place to have one of the most important fictional characters in the universe grow up. She clearly hadn't. The false house at the Harry Potter Experience, I had seen a design, definitely based on the house I was about to move into.****

Turning off the light by the side of my bed, the laptop's (currently placed on my lap as I sat up in bed) screen lit up the room. The last thing I saw before I shut it down being a picture of a three-way hug between Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint; on tumblr.****

~~~~****

The car trip took forever, even though Surrey isn't actually that far away. The argument that if Floo Powder or Apparition were actually things, travel would be a whole lot easier, raging around in my head as I did. Don't get me started in plot holes in HP. I mean, if Floo Powder is cheaply available for everyone to use, why couldn't they just let the Hogwarts students get there that way? Ugh.**  
**As I hummed along to my music, I looked back on the presents I had received this morning. My friends being the awe-inspiring people they are had gotten up extremely early (6 O Clock, if you were wondering) and had given me all my presents, along with a heart-felt goodbye. I had received a replica Tardis necklace (Yes I'm a whovian as well), and many other fandomy things, including a buttload of badges and a Slytherin Tie (Slytherin for life witches!), proving that my friends were almost too good to be true. Almost****

Anyway, Privet Drive didn't look like how it looked in the film; I know that it was a set, but I was a little bit disappointed that old Warner Bros couldn't have done it better...or that where I was moving didn't look more similar. It was still totally awesome, though. Not as cool as the real thing, but still. It took awhile to move in all the stuff we brought, and even then the delivery people hadn't arrived with our furniture and whatnot. Again, apparition. Just saying. Meaning that I was alone to greet them and get some of our stuff sorted as mum and dad had to go into their new work and get sorted for tomorrow. Leaving me alone, just as I predicted would happen tomorrow as well, an empty house for company. Sadly I spent the day playing chess, on my laptop, at level one and still losing. The internet planned to be set up next week.****

Of course the lack of stuff was a problem, it only arriving just after the clocks had hit 10pm. After what felt like hours our beds were finally sorted and I was utterly exhausted. When I finally went up, as midnight came, there was something on the bed. A small, brown, unremarkable box. It occurred to me that it was now my birthday. Happy 16th, me. You can now drive a car. Kind of.****

The box was lying on my pillow. I opened it with much apprehension, though I assumed it was from my parents. Mysteriousness was their way. Inside was a thin golden chain. I pulled at the chain until the box fall back onto the bed as it gave way to an intricate sphere on the end. Inspecting it closely, I realised that it was not a sphere, and instead a tiny sand-timer, with glittering silver grains inside it. A perfect replica of the Time-Turner in the books, compete with golden bars surrounding it to protect it from harm. It was, truth be told, beautiful (although I didn't know if that was the fangirl within me speaking). I marvelled at it for a moment, wondering how much it cost, and where they got it from. The packaging gave nothing away, being plain and dull. The jewellery itself bore no hallmark, no "Made In China" or "(C) Warner Bros 2012" imprinted on the back. A flawless replica, right down to the tiny patterns on the miniscule glass orbs.****

I wrapped it around my neck. It was late, and if I went downstairs to thank my parents, chances are they would be angry that I wasn't asleep already. I changed into my PJs, sighing slightly as I slipped into bed. All joking aside, it would take a while to get used to this new place, though I wasn't too far away from my old life. I could still visit my friends; it just wouldn't be the same.****

As I absentmindedly fiddled with the necklace that still lay around my neck, I discovered a little knob at the side, which turned the timer. I flipped it as I stared into the darkness. Once, twice, three times. I spun it in time with my breaths, in an attempt to calm myself after, what could be only described as a stressful day. Only stopping as a small wind picked up, ruffling my hair. I tried to sit up, thinking that I had left the window open, but found myself frozen in place. It was then that I panicked. Was I having some form of a seizure? Maybe I was dreaming this, and I was already asleep; though the cool wind whipping around me caused the hairs on my arms to stand on end, felt real enough, dreams could be deceiving. I was forced to stare into the darkness, although it wasn't totally dark any more. In fact, the small pendulum around my neck was beginning to emit a soft, warm light. Definitely a dream. My fingers, still frozen around it, began to warm up, the heat spreading to the rest of my body. For a brief moment, the room was bathed in a bright yellow glow, and then back to black again. My mind became black, too.****

Hopefully you all enjoyed the prologue and if you did we'd really appreciate it if you rated and reviewed!

New chapter up within the next two weeks!


	2. Chapter 1

**Note: Thank you for all for reviewing. The story picks up from here on**

**Disclaimer: We still don't own Harry Potter... Unfortunately  
**

Chapter 1****

I knew something was wrong as soon as I woke up back in my old room with my laptop no longer in my arms. (Sleeping with your electrical devices is perfectly normal thank you very much). That wasn't the only extraordinarily different thing, though it probably was the most scary. The most amusing thing of all was that, when I jumped out of bed, I appeared to have shrunk about ten inches. This was exhibit A of "What the ever-loving frig is going on?!" that came up during the course of the day. It was by no means the last, nor the most noteworthy. I didn't have any mirrors in my room, which seemed slightly different. I couldn't tell what was different, but the whole room, like my new one, just felt weird. Off, somehow. I descended the stairs, thoroughly freaked by the whole thing. Just as expected I found my parents sitting in our old kitchen. I opened my mouth to say something - probably something along the lines of "Why are we here? What the hell happened last night" - when my eyes found the huge banner on one side of the room. The banner said in bright, huge, polka dot letters HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, RUBY! Why? Was this their idea of some weird joke? Trust me, I'd been the butt of many a weird parental joke. I still don't understand why they found it necessary to put that hot sauce in my medication that one time I was in the hospital after a seriously hardcore case of headaches regarding the comments of an idiot on Tumblr and my refusal to move away from the computer. They said that Gryffindor was the best and that Slytherins were all evil. They couldn't honestly expect me to ignore that could they?!****

However, their faces told me otherwise. Totally happy to see me, despite my "what the actual hell" face. No mischievous looks telling me that this was all a joke and that they were just messing with me.****

Needless to say this made me the slightest bit worried this wasn't all a big, lets-just-laugh-at-Ruby type thing.****

"Ummm...why does it say Happy _11th _birthday up there?" I asked cautiously, only to have strange looks directed at me. "And why are we _here?"_****

"Sweetie, it's your birthday, the 14th of July, the day you were born," she paused. "And the reason why we're _here _is the obvious reason that we live _here._**" **They were acting just as confused as I was; which only succeeded in confuzzling _me_all the more. They weren't the best actors and the perfectly straight faces they were pulling were not in their repertoire of skills. In fact if I wasn't positive I was 16, I probably would have believed them.****

"Mum, this isn't funny, even for you, I know I'm 16. Nothing you can do will convince me I'm 11 for fudges sake! At least do something I could fall for if you're going to attempt a joke,"****

"Sweetie, are you feeling okay? Here let me check your temperature, what an earth could have you think you're 16?!"****

As she came closer to me, I began to see slight differences to her appearance. Gone were the small wild strands of grey hair she refused to dye. Disappeared were the slight wrinkles underneath her eyes. Disapparated was the scar she had got last year from me (accidently) falling down the stars, crashing into her, which hereby ended with her falling into a lamp.****

"Blawhl?" was the sound that burst its way out my mouth as I took it all in. Mum, and Dad for that matter, looked younger. A lot younger. Like, five years at the least. It was mildly terrifying. Wait, five years? This would make me... 11. Ah it all made sense now. It was one of _those_dreams.****

Well...yeah, sense. Sense in the most expandable term of the word.****

This was when common sense finally kicked in. This was a dream, notably a very realistic one by my brains standards, but a dream nonetheless. I'd just have to wait for the blue giraffe to appear for some proof.****

"Gotcha!" I called, trying to do a realistic chuckle.****

My parents visibly relaxed, obviously happy that their '11' year old, dream daughter wasn't completely insane. How little they knew.****

"Thank god! You had us worried," my Dad ruffled my hair. "You're getting good at acting Kiddo; maybe we should sign you up for a talent agent."****

I grinned at him."If you say so!" There was an awkward pause, that didn't quite fit the atmosphere of our family's usual constantly-fighting-to-be-heard mess.****

"I'm just going to go to the toilet" I excused myself, flashing a quick 100 watts smile as I went- fake as possible. I half ran up the stairs, almost falling over in my hurry, to the only room I could think of which guaranteed a mirror. Quickly, and almost trapping my thumb, I slammed the door. It seemed the kitchen wasn't the only room in this house claiming to be lived in. The bathroom counter was the usual mess I'd come to expect, minus all my please-for-the-love-of-all-things-holy-get-rid-of-my-spots products.****

I faced the mirror and promptly had my hands move as fast as they ever had towards my chest. Well damn, my boobs were completely gone. Talk about depressing, after years of waiting my body had only agreed to let me have them last year, well behind every single other girl in my year and now they were gone?! Just like that? Talk about depressing.****

Of course that wasn't the worst thing. Not by a long, long way. The gap I had in between my two front teeth when I was - get this - 11 had returned, which meant that two and a half years of braces were wasted. Two and a half bloody years! Perfect. The simple fact of this all being a dream just going straight through my head as I attempted to search for anything else that was obviously different.****

On the small plus side I no longer had underarm hair (I was going to wax it tomorrow!), nor hair in, well, other places. The hair on my head was considerably longer as well, and much lighter (I lost a dare when I was 14.) I stared at myself, trying to relax in my much smaller and slighter figure. I'd presumably have to deal with being a gangly 11 year old until I came across the bit in my dream where I would undoubtedly turn into a Dragon or something. How I looked forward to that, after all who wants to get back to their awkward pubescent self? As someone who's in that current predicament, I can confirm it's rather disastrous, despite the lack of hair.****

A worrying thought suddenly hit me, going along the lines that I've had lucid dreams in the past. None of what was going on pointing to the idea of me being in a lucid dream making my present troubles only worse. In those dreams, I'd summoned dragons and all sorts of great stuff; this time however, I couldn't even summon a push-up bra.****

Okay, time to face the music downstairs. I meandered my way down the familiar stairs as slowly as possible, not sure how long it normally took my 11 year old self to go to the loo. When I reached the kitchen all I could smell was breakfast. A full English, or perfection in food form as I like to call it. I grinned at my parents. Who cares it's a dream? Bacon is bacon. On the table were a pile of presents and card. Slipping into my seat, I started on opening up the first in the pile. I wonder if they'd all be the same as they were when I was 11 the first time round. It would definitely be strange for my subconscious to remember that.****

"Ruby dear," my mum interrupted my pondering. "Why don't you have a check to see if the birthday post has arrived."****

I nodded, skipping down the hall trying to remember at what age my Grandma had started sending me advent calendars instead of birthday cards. How she'd managed to find advent calendars in early July had always been a mystery. The post had indeed arrived. Quite a lot of it in fact. I scooped them up and checked to see how many, if any, were addressed to me.****

"One for me, one for dad, one for me, one for dad, one for mum, one for me..." I froze, staring down at the letter in front of me.****

_Miss Ruby Cara Thompson,_**  
**_The room in the roof,_**  
**_7 Anglington Rd,_**  
**_Notting Hill_**  
**_London_****

What. Was Harry Potter even out yet? How'd this even happen? Oh yeah dream... of course that didn't stop my hands from shaking though.****

"There any post!" My Dad called, breaking me out of my dream like state. Talk about inception. ****

I wandered back into the kitchen, stuffing the parchment envelope to the bottom of the pile.**  
"**Yup," I folded myself into my chair. It's was all just a dream. A terribly vivid and realistic dream. A plate of hot food was placed in front of me by my mother, who still looked much younger. Mmm, food. The one thing about this whole situation I could rely on. As I took my first mouthful, I passed the pile of letters to my dad, who seemed too keen. I hesitated for a moment, both on the food and the exchange, before letting things run their way. The food tasted real enough - hot and delicious. And just for a moment I forgot about my current circumstances - good food does that to a person.****

However, I was quickly brought back to reality - if it could be called that - by a large proportion of the mail being slapped in front of me by my father. I forced myself to put the fork down, and to painstakingly rifle through it, trying to pretend that the letter I knew was there, wasn't. Of course it was, green ink on thick parchment. It seemed like my parents hadn't noticed, my mother filling up a plate for herself, dad already demolishing a small tower of bacon and eggs. Only when I stopped eating and pushed the letter to the middle of the table, did they pause, looking at me and then at the paper my fingers were still lingering on.****

"Ha ha," I mumbled deadpanned. Their expressions bore no recognition, not even a flicker of amusement.****

"Sweetie, what's this?" my mother asked, coming over behind me and picking up the letter with perfectly manicured fingers.****

"I thought you could tell me." I muttered. Okay, if this was a dream, it was taking it's time getting to the good stuff. I thought when you dreamt, it skipped to the action? The vague idea that had been floating in the back of my head came to rise again, but I pushed it away. It was too ridiculous to even imagine, this was a dream. It had to be.****

"Well it's not from us, maybe Auntie Liz sent it?" I glanced at my dad who just shrugged and went back to wolfing down bacon.****

I raised an eyebrow at them as I picked up the letter of my dreams and attempted to open the envelope. I couldn't. Stupid seal wouldn't open. What's wrong with using regular envelopes, where you lick it? "God damn it." I cursed picking at it with my nails. Is tape too good for you wizards? Eh?****

"Do you want me to open it?" My mum offered.****

"No!" I clutched the envelope to my chest, giving her a horrified look.****

"It's just that I think you'll need a knife to open it."****

"So...?"****

"I'm not sure it's safe for you to use a knife."****

I bit my tongue before I could make a snarky comment, it wasn't like my _real_mum didn't say things like that usually, just then it was (usually) a joke, designed specifically to get on my nerves, that was just downright rude...or at least it would be if I was still 16...or not in a dream.****

"I just want to open it myself, it's addressed to me, and even mentions my room! So clearly I deserve to open it!" Only seconds after I said it, I realised how snappy I sounded, my only consolation being that they weren't really my parents. Just figments of my vivid imagination.****

"Alright sweetie, it is your birthday, just please be careful."****

"I'll be fine!" I insisted. "I'm not a kid-" I cut off as I realised that yes, technically I was a kid. I grabbed my butter knife and aggressively cut into the wax, slicing the envelope open.****

I ignored the worried looks my parents were sending each other as I tried to keep my heart rate down.****

I pulled out the letter roughly. Unlike all the other Hogwarts acceptance letters I had made up over the years, this letter felt real. The thick parchment was rough in my hands, the writing neat and slanted. The Hogwarts insignia moved; the lion thrashed, the snake hissed. I stopped bothering to quell the shaking of my hands. I skimmed over the first page. The words almost memorised already. It was the same as Harry's acceptance letter, I handed it over to my mum rushing straight on to the second page. The page for muggle-borns. Oh my Jesus, how many fake versions of this had I read online.****

_Dear Ruby Cara Thompson and her respective parents/carers,_****

_I trust you have read the other parchment before this and are currently in a state of confusion and shock. This is understandable and therefore an issue I would like to rectify immediately. You are a Wizard. A child in possession of magical blood. An anomaly to the muggle world but, I should add, not alone. This news may be scary but not altogether unexpected. Magical children often show signs of their talents at a young age. These signs may manifest in the form of surviving falls which should have broken limbs, things you may not have liked/wanted disappearing. Any of these things and more are perfectly normal in a wizarding child._****

_Another thing you may be concerned about is the school from which this letter of acceptance is being sent from. A school which you will no doubt not have heard of, nor applied to. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is one of the best schools of its kind in the world. It caters for all witches and wizards in the region United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, teaching them all they need to know on the subjects which will soon become part of their daily life as their magic grows stronger. This may seem like a profound notion, but rest assured, it is no jest. And regarding the matter as to how your daughter's name came to be on our student list the answer is simple, her name was written in a book. An enchanted book which is filled with the names of those born with magic._****

_We understand that you will have many more questions which is why we have chosen a representative from our school to visit your home at 1:30pm to discuss the basics of having a wizarding child._****

_Kind regards,_****

_Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore_****

_Head teacher of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._**  
**_[Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizard]_****

Well, there it was. I placed the letter on the table with trembling hands, while my parents finished reading the first one. They looked up at me with confused and unbelieving expressions.****

"There's another one?" My mum asked looked up from across the table.****

I nodded shoving the letter across the table. Feeling the motion of throwing up, bubbling in my stomach, I stuffed down some more bacon in an attempt to quell the feeling, all the whilst watching them finish the letter. This wasn't at all like I'd fantasized it would be when I daydreamed about going to Hogwarts. I had been expecting more of a 'whoop, whoop I'm so proud of you!' from my parents but alas from their expressions they seemed to be under the impression that all of this was a scam. I tried to act calm, but my eleven year old self seemed to want to scream - I resorted to jiggling my leg rapidly under the table, waiting in trepidation for their response to the letter.****

Finally they finished the letter (sending each other very easy to read looks) and glanced up at me.****

"Now don't worry about that letter, sweetheart," Mum cooed. I forced my features not to morph into something resembling a derp at her tone. Condescending much? Even for talking to an eleven year old that was a bit extreme! "Why don't you finish opening your post so we can get on with opening your presents!"****

I attempted to grin back at her but I'm sure it came out just as poorly as hers.****

"Can I have some more bacon?" My dad glanced up at the clock. 12:15. Dear lord this was going to be a long hour and fifteen minutes.**  
**********

The minutes passed by slowly, with me eating awkwardly and my parents sending not-so-secretive-looks to one another. No doubt communicating on just what the bludger was going on, not including me in their mind conversation because of my assumed lack of intelligence. Seriously, the patronising tones and condescending looks were enough to drive anyone crazy, how an earth I had survived as an eleven year old was still a mystery.****

Soon after I had finished opening presents (which were, as far as I could tell exactly the same as the ones I had received those many years ago) ,fast as a hare, I cleared the table, wanting to get into private so I could react properly to just what was going on.****

Before I could think of an excuse, Mum came up to talk to me, "Sweetie, why don't you go and watch the telly for a little while, me and your dad just need to discuss some things,"****

"Your dad and I," I mumbled half heartedly, barely registering the shock on her face that _I_her eleven year old daughter had just corrected her grammar and instead focusing on the small matter of convenience. Was I really so stupid back then that I would fall for something like this? It was an obvious ploy for them to talk about me and I had half a mind to refuse her, until of course I remembered that I wanted a few minutes on my own to compose myself.****

Nodding wordlessly I floated out the room. Flopping down and stretching once I reached the sofa, I glanced at the TV. A small box with something a back attached taking up at least half the space. It was different to say the least. But then, so were a lot of things. News from two whole decade ago wasn't exactly shocking. Well at least, I assumed it was from two decade ago, God knows the anchors were dressed in full on 90's mode. I barely paid attention to the people on the screen, who were reciting news articles that meant nothing to me. So little in fact that I wasn't even sure they were from 2007 the year of my 11th birthday. I flipped open a newspaper on the coffee table and stared at the date. No there was no way that was right. It definitely couldn't be**  
**1991. I hadn't even been born by then. So, this was getting even stranger.

**Thank you all for reading! If you enjoyed please Rate, Review and Follow, we'd really appreciate it. **

**Update in two weeks**

**Susie, Ally and Rosa**

**A Terrible Trio**


	3. Chapter 2

****

Chapter 2****

There were about 15 minutes to when McGonagall was supposed to arrive when Mum started singing. Not only was this a bad sign for my sanity, it was also a bad sign of her inner mind workings. My mum had always sung when others,_normal others_, would be crying. In an effort to drown out the sounds that made my stomach crawl, I turned up the volume on the TV and continued to watch _The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes_. It wasn't all that dissimilar from _Sherlock_, especially due to the fact that it was a version of _The Hound of the Baskervilles_, one of the best by far.****

Completely enthralled by my thoughts and Sherlock, I failed to notice my dad walk in, a shocked and confused look decorating his face as he stared at me, "You like Sherlock Holmes?"****

I grinned at him and nodded turning back to the TV show. Of course I loved the show. I had spent the best part of two years crying about the characters hadn't I? Not that he knew that. Luckily for me despite this being a slightly different version of the show, the homoerotic subtext was evident as ever.****

"Are you sure it's not too scary?" He asked.****

I snorted, forgetting once again which age I was supposed to be. "I'm fine dad. Why don't you go help Mum calm down?" I motioned behind me to where my mum was no doubt having a miniature freak out.****

Now it was his turn to snort. "You're probably right. When did you get so perceptive, eh, kiddo?" He ruffled my hair as he exited the room. Smiling strangely to himself as he went,****

Clearing my mind of all the shit that had happened to me, I settled back into _Sherlock Holmes_just as Watson began to quote Shakespeare.

The shrill ring of a door bell brought be out of my stupor. Well, Merlin's balls. This was actually happening, the one thing I had imagined again and again since the first time I had read the books, and someone was coming to tell me I was a witch.****

Out of the corner of my eye I watched as my mother abruptly stop singing, instead breathing deeply. I glanced at the clock just to check; 1:30. My stomach flipped. If I'd been online I would have simply written 'asdfghjkl;...whilst hyperventilating in front of my laptop.****

"I'll get it!" I yelled, jumping to my feet.****

I raced out of the room and down the hall, throwing open the door roughly. Today was not the day for noise control. And there, there was Professor McGonagall, looking simultaneously scary and warm as she nodded at me. She seemed awfully out of place, and looked nothing like Dame Maggie Smith. Although I wasn't expecting her to, it still took a moment before I could fully accept it was her in front of me. I stared at her for a few seconds before manners fought their way up my throat.****

"Would you like to come in Professor?" I asked, my voice wavering a little.****

She smiled warmly at me obviously glad that I was able to speak, after all words were as helpful to wizards as they were to muggles, and it was a good sign of me not going into shock; which no doubt she probably had experienced at least once with a muggle-born.****

"It would be my pleasure, child." Funnily enough, she didn't sound patronising.****

I stepped aside, letting her through the small doorway. "On the second left, Miss." I directed her towards our kitchen. She made her way smoothly down our cramped hall, taking the turn as I'd directed. I followed her into the kitchen, possibly throwing a disapproving look at my Mum who was currently staring at Professor McGonagall in all her capped glory as if she was an alien.****

I pulled out a chair for the Professor as I glared at my Mum willing her to get it together. She got my ever so subtle hint. Luckily.****

"Sorry, Would you like a drink? Some tea perhaps? Miss..." She trailed off, turning into a garden gnome.****

"Professor McGonagall and tea would be wonderful," she smiled at Mum who just about managed to return it.****

I slid into the seat next to her not even bothering, as I usually would, to hide my wonder at her being here in the actual flesh. Kind of. This was, after all, a dream. The only problem being my only reassurance; my mind, was currently half convinced this was all a comfort lie.****

As my inner turmoil swirled round and round my head McGonagall merely shuffled her papers around with an air of authority, subtly telling me to listen closely to what she was about to say.****

"Now from what I understand, " she addressed my dad. "Neither you nor your partner were aware that you daughter is in fact of wizarding descent. Am I correct?"****

Everyone collectively nodded in agreement. I just grinned at the witch, feeling slightly high.****

"Well then. My job today is to convince you of Ruby's magical blood so that you allow her to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This will enable her to become the best witch she is capable of becoming. I presume the evidence Ruby has provided over the years in terms of oddities is not enough to convince you of the existence of Hogwarts nor of her power? "****

This time it seemed my dad found words. "There have been a few... Incidents. Over the years." He announced. I stated at him with a fish mouth. How come he had never said anything? Oh yeah, right, this wasn't my past. This was my dream, or at least not the reality I knew. My mother nodded her head in agreement.****

"Mmm." She contributed. "Certainly, some slightly bizarre things, but we put them down as flukes and coincidences. Certainly not magic." She said with exaggeration.****

"Go on. "****

"Well she has never broken anything despite falling out of windows and rolling down hills.."****

"Oh, and there _was_that one time when someone - namely _her father _- slammed the door straight on her arm and the door bent," Mum interrupted.****

"But we still want proof of course."****

"Proof?" McGonagall inquired. "What you have told me sounds proof enough, but I shall provide some never the less."****

And with that she promptly turned herself into a cat. I only flinched, but to be fair on me, I already knew she could do that. It wasn't exactly news. To say my parents were surprised may be a slight understatement. Their mouths dropped open as they stared at the cat, their jaws failing to do their one job. You could practically hear their brains whirling trying to figure out what they were seeing.****

"Shut your mouths before you catch some flies," I commented with a smirk as I helped myself to some of the sweets in the middle of the table. Yum... Quality Street.****

My parents turned towards me as the Animagus turned herself back into her human form.****

I smiled at her. "Do you want one Professor?"****

She shook her head with what seemed like restrained annoyance before her expression softened. "Well, I might as well get some for Albus, he has always had an odd fascination with muggle sweets." I slid the tin towards her.****

"You just turned into a cat." My dad managed. Mum just stood there as the tea rose to a boil on the hob nodding furiously.****

"There's only one thing which I'm confused about," I pushed on, ignoring my parents and wanting to get to the good part. "Where do I buy all this stuff?"****

"You shall find that everything on that list can be purchased at Diagon Alley, which you'll be glad to hear is less than a 20 minute journey, on what you muggles call the _tube?"_****

I jumped out of my chair. "That _is_convenient! When are we leaving?"****

McGonagall gave me a calculating look which had been perfectly described in the books. It was more than slightly terrifying to say the least, especially when it was directed towards me. I swallowed roughly.****

"Professor?" I added as an afterthought. I got a small smile for that.****

"Which brings me to the second reason I am here, to set up a date in which a member of staff can take you all to Diagon Alley to exchange money and purchase all the items necessary for Ms. Thompson to enjoy her time at Hogwarts."****

My dad shook his head as if clearing it before speaking. "How about Tuesday? Joyce?" He turned to Mum who gave him a horrified look.****

"You're not honestly saying we're going to go along with this are you?!"****

At which point I turned to McGonagall and examined her. From reading the books and seeing the films I'd always just assumed she'd be wearing black. Why? I'm not sure, it had just always seemed like something she would do, and yet she wasn't. The Professor was clad in a dark burgundy cape, an outfit which I was awfully glad my parents hadn't made a comment about. Not that it would be a hurtful comment, but my Dad just had little to no control over what passed from his brain out of his lips. I had definitely inherited that unfortunate trait from him.****

"Can I see your wand?" I forced myself to ask without smirking, surely 11 year old me wouldn't be quite as perceptive to innuendo as I'd become.****

She raised a quizzical eyebrow at me.****

"The letter said I needed one, so I thought you might have one and I wanted to see what they looked like?" Bleh, I hadn't meant it to come out like a question. ****

Without an utterance she removed her wand from a pocket and passed it to me. I poured over the wooden stick, trying to absorb all its angles in minimal time. This was the real thing, not the true-to-movie replica which was currently sitting on a shelf in my room - wherever that was. This wand was a pale wood with animals and random objects carved into the base. It was a wand for transfiguration if there ever was such a thing.****

I passed the wand back to her and thanked her before excusing myself from the table and wandering up to my room, the perfect place for overhearing conversations without having to actually involve yourself in them.

****After about 10 minutes of attempting (and failing) to understand the hushed tones from the kitchen I heard a knock on my door. "Come in," I called as I quickly pulled myself up from the floor where I'd been peering through a hole.****

"Your new Professor has left," Mum let herself in. Giving me a not so subtle 'your room is a mess' look as she sat down on the bed next to me. "We're going to be taken to this 'Diagon Alley' tomorrow with some of the other, uh, muggle-borns." She made a face as if she wasn't sure she was actually saying that. ****

I nodded, letting it sink in. I'd always wondered how first year muggle-borns got to Diagon Alley; by themselves or with a group. Now my subconscious was filling in the gaps for me, thanks me. Maybe I'd even get to meet the famous brains of the trio, Hermione Granger, this was her year after all and I might as well make a few good relationships before I'm shipped off into Slytherin like I usually am.****

****

Not going through the Leaky Cauldron was mildly disappointing, but the never-before-heard-of abandoned tube entrance was pretty cool, add in the reactions of all the 'muggle parents' and**  
'**muggle-borns' made the whole experience all the more gratifying. There was, aside from me, about five or six students, which seemed a small amount to me at the time, before it occurred to me that there were only about ten students per year, per house. The students themselves seemed perfectly ordinary, and I felt suddenly quite overdressed in my gaudy colours, though I knew once we passed into the magical alley I would fit right in.****

We were just approaching the gate itself, when a bushy-haired girl with large teeth rushed up to the group. She breathlessly explained that the taxi they'd ordered had been late, as a couple of clean-looking adults strolled up beside her, apparently beside themselves with excitement.****

As she was stumbling through her excuse, to the evident annoyance of the tight-lipped supervisor, and the impatience of the students, I suddenly recognised her. Of course, the hideous jumper, the wide face, the bushy hair. It was, of course, Hermione Jean Granger. I felt mildly surprised that she didn't look like Emma Watson, though I hadn't really expected her to. I didn't expect anyone in this weird dream-world to look much like the actors who played them, but then again, I didn't really know what to expect anymore, at all.****

Hermione joined the group after her explanation, looking slightly upset that everyone was ignoring her. Feeling sorry for her, I moved to her side, smiling and introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Ruby,"****

She took this as an invitation to begin talking.****

"Oh, I'm Hermione Granger. This is awfully exciting, isn't it?" she asked, hopping on her heels in her shiny shoes. I nodded to show my agreement, as our parents awkwardly exchanged glances and forced smiles. She continued nattering on to me as the teacher waved her wand at the chains keeping us from the underground tunnel, melting them in an instant. My eyes widened at the example of magic, as did everyone else, Hermione's chattering faltering only slightly as she took it all in. She continued talking to me as the teacher led the students down the corridor, requesting that the parents remain at the top, since Diagon Alley was no place for muggles.****

The tube station, instead of leading to the other side of the road, as most do, instead snaked forward until it hit a small, unremarkable, wooden door, with staff only written on it in small, faded red letters. The teacher tapped twice on the door handle with her wand, muttering some incantation, and then pocketing her wand again, pushing the door open. The rest of us waited with baited breath. Even Hermione shut up for this bit, it was so exciting.****

The door creaked open, flooding the corridor with bright sunlight.****

"Impossible," breathed the bushy-haired wide-eyed girl next to me, as she too took in the glorious scene that was revealed to us. It was so much bigger than I had imagined, or had been depicted on screen, and yet far less crowded. I felt like my clothes were just right, as the general style seemed to range from regular t shirts and jeans, to long, flowing robes, matched with elfish shoes and pointed hats. It was quite a cacophony of sound and colour, and I could tell I wasn't the only one who wanted to dive right in. The other students were wide-eyed with awe, and I remembered for a moment that I wasn't seeing this for the first time, not really. For them, though, this was a whole new world, and it was quite an experience watching them revel in the glory of the wizarding world. For a moment, I forgot it was a dream, and felt entirely lost in the moment. Then, somebody nudged me, and I was brought back to reality - or rather, the reality that this wasn't real.****

The teacher dismissed us, telling us where to buy all the supplies, and suggesting we split into pairs so we wouldn't get too lost. She told us to meet her back here in three and a half hours, at 2:00pm. Hermione immediately grasped my arm, indicating we were to be partners and I smiled in gratitude. It was easier to make friends when someone else initiates it, although I couldn't heIp but be a tad annoyed having wanted to sneak off down Knockturn Alley, but then I reminded myself of her difficulty to make friends at first and gladly went along with it.****

It was magical. The ice creams in the shop windows were real dairy frozen treats, rather than plastic models, like in the tour of the studios. The animals barked, mewed, and roared, rather than stood still, with mouths unmoving. People buffeted past us, students and adults alike, all trying to get somewhere as soon as they possibly could. The pair of us decided to get our school supplies out of the way, and then we could treat ourselves to an ice cream, or some other wonderful treat. But it suddenly occurred to me that neither of us had any money - at least, not any wizarding money. I pointed this out to her, much to her worry.**  
"**Maybe the teacher should have given us some...?" she asked in a worried mutter, looking suddenly very afraid. "I only have our kind of money..."****

I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.****

"I'm sure Gringotts will sort something out." I said in a firm voice, taking my hand away and looking up the alley, looking for the skewered building. It wasn't as obvious as it was in the films, though it was rather big - then again, everything was. It lay, tucked away in a corner of the street, it's rear spilling out into the space behind it. It was golden, unlike in the films, and people were rushing in and out, carrying certain valuables and gold.****

We approached it cautiously, and looked over the ornate front doors. They had illustrations engraved into them - dragons and lions, alongside otters and boars and other strange creatures I didn't quite recognise. I pushed them open, almost immediately bumping into someone going the other way, who mumbled an apology before heading on their way. Hermione looked rather annoyed at their behaviour, but I couldn't care less. I pushed past in an equally rude manner, desperate to get inside of the majestic building. Inside, it was even more flamboyant than the exterior. Golden pillars sat in each corner, supporting a huge marble and glass ceiling, and marble desks with goblins (which happened to look very similar to how they're depicted in the films) sat behind, all looking very stern and menacing.****

As I took it all in a hand grabbed mine and pulled. Hermione, impatient with my wonder was marching us up to the nearest free desk. Laughing quietly at her irritable manner I followed quickly, not wanting to miss out on what could very well be my first proper magical experience.****

"Excuse me, Sir?" Hermione said in a loud voice, distracting the goblin from his work "But would it be okay if we exchanged some..." She trailed off not knowing what to call either of our money.****

"Muggle money for wizarding?" I finished.****

The goblin glared for a few seconds, "Did the teacher who accompanied you not explain what to do?" He sounded disapproving and intimidating.****

"No, Sir,"****

His eyes seemed to soften at the 'Sir' and replied, "So should I be expecting a trail of muggle-borns with no clue what to do?"****

I laughed slightly, "Well, that depends if they find here first, no one really wanted to come with us, so they might not realise what to do, or even if they need to exchange money,"****

He chuckled, surprising both Hermione and me, it was completely different to his rough exterior.****

"I'm sure one wizard or another will bring them here when they see they're lost, now let me take you through the rough amount we exchange to normal first years,"****

Quickly he went through the rough amount of everything, which then involved me having a minor spasm at the exchange rate and how much everything would cost, my parents had given me £300, an amount I had adamantly protested was too much...they clearly knew what they were doing.****

As we left with our newly changed up 60 galleons (£5 to every 1 galleon, which was more expensive than I had ever thought it might be), I waved quickly to the goblin who had served us and skipped out, Hermione in tow (her parents had given her £320 so she could buy books) and rushed into the alley.****

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	4. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

Almost as soon as we stepped outside a rush of words came from Hermione, "So Ruby, where do you want to go first? I was thinking we should go get our equipment first because-"

"Umm, actually Hermione, I was thinking we should get our wands first, because well everyone's going to want to get them last and to avoid queuing we may as well go now, when no one's there." I proposed quickly.

She blinked slowly for a second at being interrupted, until a wide smile appeared on her face. "That's a brilliant idea!"

It seemed she was used to people just listening to her and someone else (who wasn't an adult) giving her a good idea was almost a foreign concept.

Chattering away we marched off to where I knew to be Ollivander's. Slowly as we went the anticipation grew in my stomach. I was actually getting a wand, a real-life (or dream-life) wand that would do real spells. Screw the thoughts of this not being real. I don't _care_ if this isn't real.

All too soon we arrived at the old, worn-out shop that looked a little like it was falling apart. My heart started to pound and blood raced in my ears. Was this really a dream? Everything was too real, too life-like to be simply a dream, wasn't it?

Unaware of my emotional turmoil Hermione simply marched straight in ahead of me. Pushing the door with her head held high. She really was a true Gryffindor, noble and brave, and I had known her for all of 15 minutes. It was ridiculous any claims she could be a Ravenclaw - sure, she had the brains for it, but her attitude was too loud and proud.

Following her in the musty smell of oldness hit me - the scent far more powerful in revealing how old the building was than the exterior.

"Well, hello, young ladies. Can I ask who you might be?"

"Well, Mr, I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ruby..." she trailed off, not knowing my surname.

"Ruby Cara Thompson, we're muggle-born first years,"

"Ahh, yes. I heard the lot of you would be coming today. Clever idea coming to see me first. Most save it for last and end up waiting ."

Hermione and I both smiled in return, despite him being reasonably creepy with the flat out white eyes, he seemed a nice enough old man.

"Now who wants to go first?" He asked smiling widely as Hermione and I both opened our mouths to say 'me!'. "Well, as Ms Granger was the first to step inside my shop it seems only fair she's served first,"

I grunted in response. Although logical, I wanted to go first. Hermione may have walked in first but only because I was pondering the very essence of my existence! Plus I'd been dreaming of my wand since I could read! I stopped my inner babbling, very aware that I was starting to turn into a whiny 11 year old.

"Awesome sauce! I shall go second then," I plopped myself down on the ragged, velvet couch and tried to make myself comfortable for no doubt long wait. Not that I'd really mind, it would be fun seeing Hermione knock wands from shelves and generally make a mess.

Then it hit me; I had knowledge of the future and just like quite a few Harry's in quite a few fanfics I could make this a great deal more fun.

"I have a feeling that Hermione's wand will be 10¾, vine wood, with a particularly nice dragon heartstring core." I twirled my thumbs as Ollivander looked up at me. Curiosity evident in his all-knowing eyes.

"Is that so?" He said with a small smile, head cocked to the side.

It was. Just as I'd known it had been. Hermione had written it off as a very good calculated guess, which from her point of view seemed the only logical choice, Ollivander on the other hand was looking at me as if he knew all of my deepest darkest secrets. Convincing me within seconds that an Occlumency book was definitely on my to-buy list.

I watched as Hermione clutched her wand close to her chest, giving it little flicks this way and that perhaps practicing made up skills. I grinned at her.

"Your turn, Miss. Thompson," Ollivander turned his eyes back to me and I fought back a shiver, oh he knew. He knew but he wouldn't tell. Ollivander was an observer, he was waiting to watch how events played out.

He held out the first wand he'd made Hermione try, I took it in my hands gently, only to nearly drop it when a warm tingle shot up my arm and down my spine.

I glanced up from my wand and looked at Ollivander for confirmation. He seemed to be both smiling and frowning, simultaneously. "Give it a little twirl," he demanded wispily.

I did as he asked but to my utmost surprise, nothing flew out the end and knocked over boxes like the majority of Hermione's had, pointing to only one explanation. This was my wand. This although awesome, was the slightest bit completely anticlimactic.

"That's it? The first one?!" I burst out. "Come on Hermione got to knock things off the wall!"

Hermione chuckled at that, surprising me. "You shouldn't go around revelling in mayhem you know, it's not very smart."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

I was just about to launch into a speech addressing that mayhem was in fact very good for the soul, when Ollivander decided to share his knowledge.

"12 inches, acacia, Phoenix feather, reasonably supple." He paused, laying his hand flat for me to place my wand in."An interesting wand for an interesting witch." he twirled the wand around, taking it in from all angles. "This was one of the first wands I made, the carvings are some of the most intricate I've ever done. The core the greatest feathers I could find. Excitement does that to a young man, that and a thirst for greatness I suppose," he handed me back my wand, smiling. "I've always tried it first with every wizard, young or old, who comes in, but they've never quite been up to scratch. Picky little one she is. I understand now it was just waiting for a very great witch. Oh I think we can expect great things from you Ms Thompson. Great things indeed."

I swallowed awkwardly, not quite sure how to respond to any of this, unlike everything else that had 'happened' to me, this was completely unexpected. I hadn't considered that I could be good at magic in the future, too shocked I assumed by the extraordinary events unfolding. Luckily for me I was in the company of a certain very talkative witch who had no trouble breaking the silence.

"So how much does a wand cost?" Hermione asked. "It's just that Ruby and I need to go shopping for the rest of our supplies."

"Of course, of course. That will be 7 galleons each," Ollivander walked back to the till. "Would you like to keep the box?"

"Yes," me and Hermione answered simultaneously. Seems like I'm not the only sentimental muggle born. And with that both me and Hermione dug into our leather money purses, provided by Gringotts, and handed over 7 galleons each to Ollivander.

I felt Ollivander's eyes on my back all the way out the shop and halfway down the street.

"I think we should get our clothing next," Hermione remarked. "I wonder what we'll have to wear. Do you think we'll have to wear cloaks and pointed hats like the witches and wizards we grew up with? Or do you think that we'll wear normal school uniforms?"

"I'm guessing we're supposed to get the cloaks and pointy hats but I'm sure as hell not going to get one of those awful hats. Maybe I'll get a Beanie, they look much better and at least they're not freezing."

Hermione stared at me, shocked as we pushed open the door into the cramped store. "But the school hat is on the list so you _have _to buy it."

I chuckled at her. Maybe I'd manage to be rebellious in this dream and escape beyond my bedroom once in awhile.

"Is anybody in?" I called into the next shop we had chosen to stop at.

"Come down to the back, darling!" a voice called from inside the shop.

I grinned as I passed mannequin after mannequin displaying the latest in wizarding styles.

"Definitely cloaks and pointed hats," I mumbled at Hermione, who nodded.

"Oh! There are two of you?" cried a warm, cuddly looking woman dressed from head to toe in mustard-coloured robes and pointed shoes. "Hogwarts, I assume. First years, by the looks of things."

"Right then, off with your coats nice and quick, even I can't measure you under all that."

We did as she asked and straight away there were enchanted tape measurers circling us. I stared, bewitched, as they flicked around me, taking seemingly irrelevant measurements - such as the length of my eyebrows.

As enjoyable as it was to find out they were exactly 4 and a half centimetres, there was no way in hell that could have anything to do with the size of my robes.

I glanced over at Hermione, she seemed a lot more content to let the tape measures do what they pleased. The measuring finished quickly as the tape measures ran out of things to measure, and raced back into Madam Malkin's pockets.

The smiling woman's head popped through the curtains and gave us the once over.

"Well now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked us toothily, snapping her fingers.

A scroll of parchment appeared in her hands, with our apparent measurements on them. With a knowing gaze, she turned her attention to the long, half-finished robes that were suddenly being cut and styled by levitating scissors.

I glanced over at Hermione, who seemed to be watching them in the same way one might watch a street performer - with a combination of awe and disbelief, with a little bit of annoyance thrown in there. I bit down a chuckle. It seemed our lil' Hermione wanted to be able to command levitating scissors- not of course that I didn't, in fact if my memory served me correctly (and whenever concerning Harry Potter, it usually was), it would be one of the first things we would learn.

I watched as the last stitches were put into place, and two pairs of stunning Hogwarts robes were presented to the pair of us, along with a satisfied smile from Madam Malkin. "Do try them on dears," She encouraged us. "Though I imagine they'll fit a treat." She added modestly.

Hermione stood up first, obviously eager to get into them. Madam Malkin pointed to the first pair, which had slightly broader shoulders and shorter torso length than the robes that belonged to me. I also noticed (a product of having watched far too much Sherlock) that the colour of the stitching was different - that mine was more silvery - but I thought nothing of it.

I watched as Hermione took hers down from whatever invisible perch they were hanging on, and vanished into the changing rooms. I stood up after her, copying her actions, and exchanged a polite and slightly awkward smile with the seamstress who had made them.

I was mildly surprised when I slipped them on - they fit like a dream! I guess that's what you get for custom made. I flipped the cloak inside out, no house colour anywhere in sight. I couldn't help but wonder how they changed the colours, but then again, I'd somehow managed to end up in a parallel universe, so I probably shouldn't question anything. I twirled and posed in front of the mirror.

"How you doin'?" I joked, reminding myself of my trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tours or more specifically the gift store. If this was how I was in a clothing store how would I respond to the books this world held?

The Apothecary was as expected, revolting. Even Hermione wasn't terribly enthusiastic about the dark, smelly shop filled with bucket upon bucket of animal entrails. We both seemed to agree that it would take a while to build up the tolerance of using them continuously in Potions. Hermione also put up with my small rant about how it wasn't financially possible for Ollivander to sell unicorn hair wands for 7 Galleons while unicorn tail hair was 10 Galleons a strand.

We decided to forgo food and venture straight into Flourish and Blott's, the shop we (maybe excluding the ice cream store) had been longing to enter most of all. And boy, after pushing open the door was I sure it was worth the wait.

Shelves upon shelves of books filled the massive space. In fact it was so crammed with books that it would give Paris's 'Shakespeare and Company' a run for its money.

We sighed in unison as the heady scent of books hit us, it smelt like home.

"Let's get school books out of the way first," I suggested just as Hermione said; "We should get the listed books done first."

We stared at each other before bursting into a fit of giggles - Hermione's intense relief that she'd paired herself up with a bookie evident on her face. I smiled widely at her, it seemed my whimsical day-dreams of becoming best friends with her and being in Hogwarts weren't going to be dreams much longer. The very thought of actually going to Hogwarts causing a demanding tingle in my stomach, impossible to ignore.

As before my thoughts had seemed to get the better of me, Hermione having dived straight into the nearest shelves. Hands already trailing along the old looking books.

Deciding that I may as well get all the necessary requirements before I went crazy, I started searching. Immediately a sign saying 'Hogwarts Requirements' caught my eye, and with forceful strides I made my way over.

The newness of the books immediately struck me. Compared to the rest of the books these were in immaculate condition and looked remarkably like a bookworms dream.

Not even checking the list (I had memorised it the 19th time I had read my Hogwarts acceptance letter), I went straight for the line which featured all the titles I would need.

Including: The Standard Book of Spells, A History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.

It goes without saying my full book list didn't simply consist of these measly first year written textbooks, oh no! After I had piled my books and tucked them under my arm I went off to join Hermione, who, without having got the requirements had already got a pile as big as mine.

Interrupting her before she could go and get more, I said, "Why don't we make sure we don't have any of the same books we don't actually need? That way we can get more, and swap with each other?"

She smiled widely at my suggestion and nodded vigorously. "That sounds fantastic, I was worried about not having enough money to get all I want!"

I waited as she counted the books in my arms and then the ones in her own.

"17 in total. So that's 17 Galleons."

I frowned at her. "Surely books are more than 1 Galleon each." Well at least they had been on Pottermore. Though that site was looking less and less reliable by the minute.

"Well that what _I_ thought, but then the shopkeeper came up to me and said that all books were 1 Galleon each for students because they were trying to encourage us to read more."

I grinned at her. "All books did you say?"

She raised an eyebrow at that, but followed my gaze over to where the Occlumency books lay. Pulling me towards them, their hefty price tags had been the only thing keeping me from taking the hundreds on the shelves, she threw me quite a few not-so-subtle glances as if wondering a) what the hell was Occlumency b) why did I need it and c) the one I was most troubled by - how did I know about it?

I swallowed and grinned back at her as if I had no clue of the questions racing through her mind, after all I was 11 and if we carried on at this steady friendship rate I'm sure we'd be close enough for me to explain everything when the right time came.

I pulled a couple of books from the shelves and gave their backs a quick read. They looked promising enough, so I added them to my collection, and we paid our money.

On our way back to the entrance Hermione and I couldn't quite resist the ice cream stand. They just looked too good. Ice cream of every colour imaginable, pastels, brights you name it, it was there. Every topping too. I went for the 'Ruskin's Ever Changing Rainbow' which from what I could gather was an ever changing blend of everything yummy, wrapped snugly in a cone of cotton candy. Hermione went for Almond and Mint, perhaps the oddest combination to go for but then again she seemed perfectly content with her choice. She was also definitely a Dentist Daughter, taking it upon herself to tell me all the awful things that such large amounts of sugar were doing to her teeth. Not that I minded her foretelling of my doom, or at least my teeth, it passed all the time it took us to get back to the 'normal' world.

Waiting for us at the tube station were both our parents chatting to each other comfortably, clutching coffee to their chests and in my Dad's case: a puppy.

I raised an eyebrow as we walked towards them. Why was my Dad clutching a puppy as if...

This was the surprise gift.

I shrieked nearly dropping all my bags as I raced towards my parents.

"Oh no you didn't!" I squealed, dropping to my knees in front of my Dad as the puppy squirreled out of his arms and into my lap, jumping up to lick my face.

My parents shared smiles at each other. "See I told you she'd prefer a dog to a toad," my dad joked, being quickly silenced by an elbow to the ribs. "Ouch!"

I giggled, I couldn't help it. I was going to have a puppy all to myself. A beautiful little Husky, mine. Until school started...

My smile slipped off my face... That's right.

Dogs weren't allowed at Hogwarts.

"What are you going to name it?" Hermione broke in, excitement glittering in her eyes. "You should name it something good like Bobby, not something like Princess because you'll grow out of that and look really silly when you get older. Shame you won't be able to bring her to school."

I nodded in agreement, as she gave me a reassuring pat on the back.

"But you will!" Mum clapped her hands together. "We talked to Professor McGonagall and she's made special arrangements, she'll be allowed to sleep in your dorm as long as she doesn't bark and such! The Gamekeeper, Hagger, Hadergrin or something like that has volunteered to take it on walks. Isn't that great news, sweetie?"

The squirming pup in my arms barked quietly as if understanding what had just been said.

"So Ruby, what _are _you going to name her?" Hermione pressed on stroking the fluffy lump.

I paused.

"Sootica"

Sootica twirled in my lap and lay down, yawning. The adults chuckled.

Yup, Sootica it is.

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	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter. If we did Hogwarts would now be a year round summer camp with an excellent wifi connection.**

**Authors note: Sorry for the long gaps between updates recently revision has forced its way into our lives and gobbled up our spare time. Hope it was worth the wait.**

**Last time: Ruby met Hermione and explore Diagon Alley. She also got a dog called Sootica.**

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Chapter 4

The summer had managed to take both all the time in the world and half a minute to pass. In fact the issue of it dragging on was what had convinced me that this wasn't in fact a dream. The time flowed too well and I was still lacking a dragon, despite managing to get my hands on a push-up bra. Plus it didn't help that there was no way that my brain could have come up with all the news stories and TV show plot lines I was currently seeing everyday.

During our little trip to Diagon Alley our parents had managed to exchange numbers and addresses so that we could have 'play dates'. Boy, had it been a long time since I'd done anything with the world 'date' in the title.

By the end of the holidays Hermione had all of the textbooks memorised and I had most of them memorised. I hadn't quite managed the feat due to the fact that I spent most of my time rereading and practicing the Occlumency book. The only issue with this brilliant plan of mine to learn it all from books was that I had no easy of seeing if I was doing anything right at all. Sure I could probably get Hermione - a very young witch - to give it a go of getting into my mind, but what if it went wrong and she forever screwed up my brain - or worse saw all of my past and my knowledge of what would happen in the future.

But there was really no point worrying about it at all. When I'd get to Hogwarts, Snape would help me all the while keeping my secrets for me. He would after all be my head of house. My confidence of being placed in Slytherin was thick inside of me, as well as anticipation.

I glanced up at the clock hanging just above the gateway to Platform 9 and 3/4's. Hermione was running late, or maybe I was just running early. Yes, that was probably it.

On top of my trunk Sootica stirred as I had to move back from yet another wizard and their family racing through the wall. From what I could figure out there must be some sort of ward around the area as not one muggle even glanced at these oddly dressed people running full pelt at a wall while holding owls and toads. But then again this was London and if I'd learned anything from living here for 16 years is that nobody is really paying attention to what anyone else is doing any of the time. Well unless you were busking in which they just generally avoided you while pretending that there was no music playing so they don't have to give any spare change.

Every time someone ran through the wall I could barely keep back tears. This was really happening. I was really going to Hogwarts.

"Are you okay?" A deep voice called from next to me, jerking me out of my trance.

I whirled around to face the voice and my breath caught in my throat because this boy was beautiful. I snapped my jaw shut as soon as I realised I'd been staring.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I managed a smile.

He chuckled and I felt my stomach somersault. If only I was older and hot.

"First year?"

"Yup- and new to all this." I gestured at the people running into a wall. I guess that was only a half lie, I was new to all this being in real life, maybe just not the whole concept of magic.

"Good on you for finding the entrance then, how'd you manage that?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I followed the string of oddly dressed people carrying owls and talking loudly about Hogwarts. You guys really need to learn the art of disguise; it's almost as if you want to be discovered!"

This earned me another chuckle. "Cedric Diggory, 3rd year." He stuck out his hand flashing me a dazzling grin.

I took it giving him a smile. "Ruby Cara Thompson and you must be a Hufflepuff."

This time it was a snort. "You must have far too much time on your hands."

I stuck out my tongue.

"Real mature," he joked, poking me in the stomach. "You waiting for anyone?"

I nodded at him, shooting another glance at the clock. 10:45. Where was Hermione?

"Ahh... Well you're welcome to sit with me and my friends down the front of the carriages. I remember first year, it was kind of awkward, sitting by myself."

I couldn't help the grin. I really doubted that he was ever by himself, not with this bright of a personality and _those_ cheekbones. "Thanks! I mean sure I'll come annoy you for the multiple hour train ride."

"Ruby! I'm so sorry I'm late. Traffic was awful and I couldn't fit all my books into my trunk so I had to get another bag but then mum and dad said I couldn't take it because there was too much. But I have to have _some_ muggle books, what if I get bored of magical textbooks," Hermione shrieked, skidding to a stop behind me. "Oh you're talking to someone." She trailed off glancing up at the unbelievably handsome boy currently standing beside me.

"Cedric Diggory," he presented himself, yet again offering his hand.

"Hermione Granger," she blushed, obviously just noticing what his face actually looked like.

"I was just saying to Ruby, it is Ruby right? Not Ruby-Cara?" I nodded and he continued. "That you two should sit with us on the train journey."

"Oh yes, thank you very much for the offer, Cedric."

I raised an eyebrow at her. It looked like someone was fast developing a crush. If anything Hermione managed the feat of getting even redder. I glanced over at Cedric, snorting when he too was going a bit red round the edges.

"Okay see you soon Cedric, I want to buy a last sausage roll before I have to eat your wizarding crap." I joked.

He gave me a quick salute before turning quickly and jogging through the wall.

"Stop looking at his butt," I joked as we watched him walk away.

Hermione giggled, not even bothering to deny it. Were people usually like this at eleven?

Then it hit me and my smile faltered a little, though I kept it on my face for Hermione's sake.

Cedric was going to die. The boy who'd been so kind to me was going to die and I was going to fix it. I wasn't going to let it happen. Nope not one bit, I'd do whatever I had to do, because no one who smiles that nicely should have to suffer that way.

"Are you okay, Ruby?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just nervous." I lied easily, still staring at the wall that Cedric had just vanished through. I had no idea how I was going to prevent his death, but I would do whatever it took. It also occurred to me how many other people I was going to meet who would be dead before I left Hogwarts. How many students, professors, a certain house-elf. It was almost too much for me to handle. I couldn't save them all, I knew that. But I could sure as hell try, I decided. Yes. As long as I knew what was going to happen, I could try to prevent as much loss of life as I could. I'd heard plenty in fiction about not interfering with history, and what was written in ink was inevitable, but I didn't care. I had to try, didn't I?

"I'm nervous too." Hermione continued, apparently oblivious to my inner thinking. "I mean, what if it's not at all like I expect? Mind you, I've done plenty of reading, so I should know what to expect." she said brightly, walking up to the wall and examining it closely, apparently fascinated by it. "You ready to go?" she asked, turning around and facing me with a wide smile upon her round face, a frame of bushy hair atop her head.

I nodded slowly, my palms growing sweaty as I took a step back, facing the wall. I wanted to go first, so I grabbed my trolley, and with a good-bye nod to the real world, I ran at the wall, and entered the world of fantasy that awaited me.

It was breathtaking, in the most literal sense if the word. As in I might as well have been in a vacuum for all the nothing I could draw in while running through that wall.

The first thing I saw after running through the gateway was red. After a few moments, my eyes adjusted, and I realised I was staring at the glossy blood-red exterior of the one and only Hogwarts Express. It was lined with Gold and silver paint, highlighting the beautiful metalwork on the front carriage. The rest of the train lay to my right, and students were already piling on, desperate to get a good seat. I was glad I had my alliance with Cedric, securing me a seat at the very least.

I remembered that I was standing in front of the magical entrance, and quickly moved aside so other witches and wizards could pass through. Hermione appeared a few moments later, looking thoroughly awed by the train, though not quite as star struck as I was. It was even more majestic than words had been able to describe in the books, as well as the spectacular sets of the films. This was also far more _real_ - in that I could smell the coal-burning furnace that powered the train, and the loud chatter in the air that came from the hundreds of students piling into the carriages. Hermione grabbed my hand, obviously eager to get up close and get into the train. I wasn't exactly protesting.

"Come on!" she squealed, dragging me - along with her luggage, towards a set of train doors.

She was laughing loudly, and I wondered for a brief moment where her parents were. I figured that like mine, they were probably leaving it to us, since we knew more about this world than they did.

"The front, front Hermione, that's where Cedric said he was," I called out as we raced through the corridors, glancing inside cabins all the way.

There was Draco looking positively adorable, pale hair scraped back as he stuffed his face with chocolate. Next were the Weasley twins throwing stink bombs into unsuspecting students compartments. Hermione and I dived into the nearest doorway to escape the smell.

"Hello?" A voice from behind us called.

We swung around to face it or them. I forced my eyes not to fall out of my head.

I should have predicted this, of course this would happen, because out of all the possible cabins for us to hide in we had chosen the first one I'd ever read about. The cabin in which Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were sat. Great, I'm already interfering with the story.

Hermione blushed scarlet, obviously being under the impression that the cabin would be empty. Luckily for both of us she recovered quickly from her shock and launched into a typical Hermione interruption.

"Terribly sorry for bursting in like this. We were just on our way down to Cedric's cabin but then these two ginger boys, well they might have been twins started throwing these awful smelling potions into the corridors and we just had to get out of there. I know I don't want to smell like rotten eggs at the sorting, do you? I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, and who are you?"

This little speech brought me out of my daze at staring at two of my heroes. Even without events taking their usual course, Hermione had still managed to come across in an undeniably bossy way. Not quite as badly as in the books, maybe that was my influence, but enough for me to feel awkward standing next to her.

A glance at the boys, they looked as shocked at the onslaught of words that had just exited Hermione's mouth.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Harry Potter," Harry readjusted his glasses.

Hermione's eyes became saucers. "Are you really?" She spluttered before telling the boys exactly what she's spent the entire summer doing.

"Do you want us to beat up or just slightly heavily threaten your Aunt and her family?" I broke in, before Harry got too embarrassed.

"How do you know?"

I've been obsessed with you and your friend's life since I was 7.

"I just have these feelings sometimes," I lied quickly. "Hermione thinks I'm insane, but I think she's insane too so it kind of balances everything out.

"Who are you again?" Ron cut in, giving me the once over.

"Ruby Cara Thompson, just call me Ruby though," I smiled at him.

"Right," he nodded, leaning back into his seat as he pulled a disgruntled looking Scabbers from his pocket. That animal. It was taking all of my control not to grab the rat and strangle it. -

I swallowed roughly, knowing that I'd have to figure out what to do with it.

"Cute rat," I commented.

Yes, I should make myself seem as friendly towards the rat as possible that way he'd be more trusting in me. Shame it would be difficult to steal Scabbers from the Gryffindor tower.

"Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds the best by far, I read that Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway we'd better get to Cedric's cabin, we said we'd be there before the train left but we've already missed that."

It was true, the Hogwarts Express was powering out of the station towards my dream school. I replayed her little speech back in my head; it was almost exactly the same as it had been in the book. Uncannily similar, actually.

I couldn't help but worry if Hermione would dismiss me when we were sorted into different houses. I had grown used to her company and her bookish ways were helping to sooth how much I missed my friends. I'd always wondered what I'd do without them and now I knew; I'd turn towards where they'd usually be to tell them something funny I'd thought up or seen, I'd absentmindedly dial up their numbers on the landline, before realising, half-way through that I didn't even know if they realised I existed and that they definitely didn't want to hang out.

Even the fact that I was currently hurtling along towards the one place I'd always wanted to go, with the people I'd dreamed of going with, was soured with the realisation that I wanted to be going with them.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Reminding myself of what I'd lost wouldn't help if I couldn't get it back. I was about to live my dreams, I should be happy. I would be happy.

I glanced around me and didn't bother to stop the laugh that burst out of my throat; Hermione was currently stationed in front of a very scared Harry fixing his glasses.

"Reparo," she tapped his glasses, grinning to herself as the tape fell away revealing the fixed glasses. "It was nice meeting you two."

I turned towards the door as Hermione crossed the short space to where I was standing.

"The offer's still open Harry," I called behind me as we went off in search of Diggory.

It turned out not just Albus Dumbledore was a sucker for muggle sweets. My massive box of Pick 'n' Mix courtesy of Woolworths (hey, Woollies was back) were unbelievably popular. Cedric was particularly fond of Strawberry fizzy laces. So much so that every time one entered his mouth a little moan escapes, much to the delight of all the girls currently residing in our cabin.

All the while this was going on me and Hermione were getting taught the rules of Quidditch by Heidi MacAvoy, one of Cedric's friends. As Quidditch had always been an area of weakness for me in terms of my Harry Potter knowledge I was positively gobbling all the confusing information.

"I still don't get the reason for having seekers, isn't that just cheating?" Hermione asked for the 9th time, just as Neville- well I assume it's Neville- burst into the room looking close to tears.

"I've lost my toad!" He croaked.

I sighed, jumping up. I'd been waiting for this to happen. "Neville," I began, skipping the part where I introduced myself to him. "I have a strong feeling your toad will show up later, quite possibly in the boat or when we get to Hogwarts. Don't worry about it." I added with a smile. The least I could do was save the kid from a nervous breakdown. His small mouth hung open, mid-sentence.

"Oh, okay." was all that he said, standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Uhm, who are you?" he asked quietly, peering at me.

"Ruby Cara Thompson." I told him, sitting back down again and folding my legs on the seat. "Hi." I added politely with a small smile. "Oi Cedric, want to give Neville some sweets before or after you get plump?"

"Uh, sure." he said with a smile, leaning forward with an open bag of marshmallows. "Here, Neville." he offered, giving him a warm smile. Man, this guy really was a Hufflepuff. "Why does everyone hate Hufflepuff?" I wondered. I mean, people like Cedric were in Hufflepuff. And Tonks! I mean, obviously _I _wouldn't want to be sorted into it, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

"H- H-How did you know my name?" Neville asked in between stuffing his mouth with marshmallows.

Before I could open my mouth to reply Cedric butted in. "Because she has a magical inner eye," he yodelled.

I glared at him. "You'll be glad of my inner eye in fourth year, you ungrateful cow."

The cabin OoOoooHhhHhhh-ed as some second years ran into our cabin.

"You can see the castle! Driver says everyone needs to get changed!" they called, obviously elated about being sent to tell everyone. They were gone in a flash, off to spread the message to the rest of the train. I was a little hesitant - where was I meant to change? I glanced around at the others - they evidently knew what to do, and the girls were already walking out of the room, lugging their cases with their robes in them behind with. I exchanged glances with Hermione, and we mimicked their actions. They walked through to another empty compartment - _how did we not spot this earlier? _- and we followed them in.

Hogwarts was spectacular. Sure, seeing the Hogwarts Express and Diagon Alley in real life were pretty damn amazing, but they both paled in comparison to the rush I felt as I saw the castle suddenly _appear_ behind a rugged mountain, a positive jewel of stone next to the glassy lake, overlooking the Scottish highlands. Hermione stood next to me in the carriage, her jaw falling open as she spotted it as well. It truly was magical, seeing the castle draw larger as the train snaked around the mountain, the castle itself growing closer and closer as we grew nearer. More of it became visible - the towers protruding from the corners, the Quidditch pitch peeking out from behind the castle, a thin line of smoke rising from what was undoubtedly Hagrid's hut in the grounds.

"Look at it!" Hermione exclaimed, grabbing my arm, as if I wasn't already staring at the most beautiful place in the world. "That's Hogwarts!" she added in a high voice.

My nerves were fluttering as we went around a forest - it occurred to me it was the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, which was far larger than I had originally thought. It stretched out for at least a 5 miles, covering the hills nearby and thinning out as it went.

I sat back in my seat, overwhelmed with emotion. It took everything I had not to cry, though I expected the tears would flow once we were inside.

The train grew darker as we went inside the forest, the station near the left edge (Cedric had told me). Eventually, it stopped altogether, and students immediately rushed out, desperate to get back to Hogwarts. Me and Hermione waited for the crowds to thin a little, before stepping out of our compartment and filing down the corridor, getting to the platform with ease. It was hard to see through the trees, but the lights of Hogwarts shone brightly in the distance, welcoming us.

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	6. Chapter 5

_Authors Note: Sorry for such a long gap between chapters, we've just finished our mocks so we've been swamped with revision and homework for the past few months. Hopefully now that we're on our summer break we'll be able to write more and finally get Year 1 over and done with. Also sorry that this chapters a bit short, the next one will make up for it._

_This chapter was loads of fun to write so I hope you will all enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it! Also, happy 48th birthday to J.K Rowling and Harry Potter. _

**Disclaimer: Still not J.K Rowling. Go figure. **

Chapter 5

After a long and most enjoyable train ride, where among other things, I learnt the inner secrets of how to win at exploding snap, and all the Hufflepuff third year dirt (who knew thirteen year old boys would gossip so much?); we cautiously stepped off the train. Arms linked as we looked around the hustle and bustle of students young and old, all with a much better idea of just what they were supposed to be doing. My only relief being the shaking, but equally firm arm that was linked with mine. Hermione's deep sense of calm in many ways helped to calm my nerves.

"First year's over here!" A deep, gruff voice echoed towards us. This could only be one person, one person who was making my toes curl in anticipation.

As we got closer and closer towards the towering figure I was all the more sure of just who this was. A few seconds later as the same gruff voice from before, all but bellowed, "'hello 'arry!" That I knew for certain who this was.

It had seemed the film had got him right in size and features. With, nearly all of him (unlike other people I had met), being an almost exact copy of how I imagined and saw him to be.

"Hello," I said loudly, immediately drawing Hagrid's attention to me. Unlike, nearly all the other first years standing in the little huddle in front of him, I was pretty much the only one who wasn't shaking in their shoes just from looking at him. It was understandable-their shaking. Hagrid was, after all, over 7 foot. If not for the fact that I knew him to be completely harmless and one of the kindest people- in the whole of the Harry Potter universe- I probably would have been shaking. He was terrifying, to put it bluntly.

"I'm Ruby, who are you?"

He smiled widely, "Hello Ruby, I'm Hagrid," And with that, he went back to shouting "First years over here!"

Jaw open slack in amazement, Hermione was the first to say anything, "That was _very_ brave of you, I would never of had the guts to speak to him like that!"

I frowned, bravery wasn't my intention, "Umm, well I wouldn't call it bravery, but it was obvious he was going to be nice, he is in charge of bringing the first years to Hogwarts and they must pick a _nice_ person for that,"

She only looked shocked at my fool-proof logic.

Less than 5 minutes after that we were in our boats, on our way to the castle. The lights twinkling more and more, as we got closer and closer, sending tingles down my spine as we sat and marvelled at the beauty of our home for the next seven years.

As we approached, I heard a scuffling in the adjacent boat. Of course, Neville had lost his toad, again, which was a cause of great amusement for the students in the vicinity. His troubles were soon forgotten, however, as the castle loomed on the rocky shore next to the lake, the lights inside twinkling warmly despite the shadowy exterior. Soon, we were almost directly underneath it, and the boats began to drop the students off. With a horrible jolt, I recognised the dimly lit building as the boathouse - the very same boathouse where Snape had died. No, where he was _going _to die, in less than eight year's time.

The thought was almost alien, knowing where someone was going to die. Could I do anything about it? Could I alter the future so as to save him? No, because Voldemort was pretty much unstoppable, certainly by my standards of power. I doubted very much that in seven short years of "training", that I would be strong enough to take him on. That task was very much left down to Harry. Harry, who was currently an innocent 11 year old, not yet scarred by the horrors that awaited him. Yes, he had already been raised horribly, but he had no idea what was in store for him. He would already face death before the school year was out. He seemed so young, it seemed so criminal to allow such a thing to happen...

I was once again brought out of my reverie by Hermione, tugging on my arm and telling me to hurry up. I realised that we were already halfway up the huge staircase leading to the castle, and it hadn't even hit me. My feet were just automatic. Huh, strange that I was able to zone out so easily, considering where I was. The lights were even brighter now that we were closer, and I could just make out the shapes of lamps in the lower windows, illuminating the school. A surge of energy rushed through me, and I began speeding up, forgetting all about the fates and destinies I had just been contemplating. Hell, I was at Hogwarts! How could I worry at a time like this?

We got there sooner than I had expected. We ascended the staircase up to the main hall, free of luggage now. I had been reluctant to let Sootica go, as she had already been nervous about the train ride. Plus, I freaking loved her, and didn't really want to see her go if I didn't have to. However, Hagrid had reassured me that he would take good care of her, as he was the one that looked after the pets as we were all being Sorted. He also had told me that I would have her back by bedtime.

There were about forty of us, and we were told to wait at the top of the stairs for McGonagall. However, she apparently prided herself on punctuality, as she was already waiting for us by the time we rounded the corner on the final flight of stairs.

"Students." She began, scouring us over with those emerald eyes as we slowed to a halt at the top of the stairs. "Welcome to Hogwarts. By now, your luggage has been taken from you, including all pets-" It was at this point that Trevor - Neville's toad - decided to show up, ribbiting loudly from the banister. Neville exclaimed, and rushed over to retrieve him, earning both of them a hard look from McGonagall, before she continued talking.

"Soon, you will all enter through these doors, and be Sorted into your respective houses. They are, for those who don't know; Ravenclaw, who pride themselves on intelligence and creativity; Gryffindor, who are noble and brave hearted; Hufflepuff, who are always loyal and just; and Slytherin, who are known for their cunning and wit. However, you will learn more about your house once you are Sorted into it." She explained. Of course, I knew all about the houses, so didn't listen very hard at this part, though I did note that she said 'Slytherin' with slight disdain, as well as listing it last. Interesting. I guess even she was a little biased, but it was understandable. After all, she was the head of Gryffindor house.

She finished her piece and told us to remain where we were as "final preparations" were

made. Whatever that meant.

I recognised a white-blond boy approach me in the crowd, and my heart jumped a little as I recognised him as Draco Malfoy. I had spotted him at the station and on the train earlier, but I hadn't really thought about it. He wasn't Tom Felton, but that certainly wasn't a bad thing right now. I mean, he was 11, but damn. He was actually kind of adorable, though I could tell he was gonna grow into something amazing.

"So, Potter." he spoke in his childish voice. It took me a moment to realise he wasn't talking to me, but to the messy haired boy next to me. I realised that they had already met, in the compartment, not on the stairs, like in the film. So I had already missed that opportunity to watch them conflict. Oh well, this was new anyway. I couldn't recall them talking at the top of the stairs in the books. Maybe JK just left it out...? Or this universe wasn't totally accurate. I shook my head a little as I listened to the rest of their conversation.

"So, what house are you hoping to be sorted into? Personally, I'm hoping for Slytherin, but then, you already knew that. Probably be Hufflepuff, but then, it's you, so I wouldn't be surprised." he scorned.

Harry stood, watching him through newly repaired spectacles, frowning a little.

"I suppose I'll just have to see." he replied shortly. So much for a snappy comeback. Malfoy looked mildly irritated that Harry hadn't given him anything to work with, but he wasn't deterred.

"I expect Weasley here will be in Gryffindor, with his brothers. Mind you, there's always a black sheep in the family, and I get that sort of feeling from you, Weasley." he spat at him.

Ron rolled his eyes, just as McGonagall returned. She glared at Draco, and even he crumbled under her gaze, returning to Crabbe and Goyle, who were shorter than the films had depicted.

"In you go." she told us, turning her gaze to the hall doors and waving a hand, opening them magically.

A collective gasp ran through the crowd, as the golden hall was revealed to us. The ceiling shimmered with the image of the outside world, stars shining almost as brightly as the levitating candles which occupied the airspace. The smell of melting wax filled the air, as well as the faint aroma of cooked food, too many smells to pinpoint just one. I imagined that was from the kitchens downstairs, with house elves working hard to feed us all. We began walking, a few hundred faces turning to watch us enter, the other students already seated and probably hungry. The sooner this was over, the better, in their opinion, though I could tell a few recognised Harry walking behind me, the scar on his forehead out in the open.

And then the hat started to sing the song we all knew. I knew it too well and couldn't hep but zone out as I began to get worried about where I'd get sorted. I'd just assumed I'd get sorted into Slytherin but now since I had struck up a friendship with a Hufflepuff maybe I'd end up there.

I tried not to groan outwardly as doubts races around my head. _What if this? what if that?_

Not that it would matter that much; this wasn't inception and dreams didn't last for ever, or at least make sense forever.

The hall was filled with applause. It was time.

I glanced over at Harry and Ron, who were whispering to each other as Ron shot angry looks at his brothers. Seemed Ron was as gullible now as he was in the books. I didn't need to glance over at Hermione to know what was going on in her head, I could hear it.

"You shall go where you're supposed to go Hermione, yeah you will." She repeated over and over like a mantra.

McGonagall walked to the front of the room, "When I call your name you will come forward to be sorted!" She announced. "Abbot, Hannah!"

I won't even pretend I didn't zone out again, I knew where everyone was going, how everything played out. Then again I will admit that I elbowed Ron pretty hard when he made that comment about Hermione.

Someone nudged me. "It's your turn."

Trust me.

"Thompson, Ruby Cara?" McGonagall called.

I walked up to the chair quickly, unable to keep down the blush that was fast enveloping my face.

"Good luck Ruby!" Cedric yelled from the Hufflepuff table, giving me the confidence to step up to the hat and risk the dream ending.

I gave him a thumbs up as the hat covered my eyes.

Nothing. Nothing happened no voice, no ruffling through my mind.

_Oi_, I thought. _Get on with it! _

"Not usually the response I get," a small voice grumbled inside my head. "First years are usually too scared to say anything, but then you aren't a first year are you?"

_I won't tell if you don't. _

The little voice chuckled. "You're not making me this very easy for me, all these years of knowing you've practically sorted yourself..."

_Yes_

"You've got the brains for Ravenclaw that's for sure, but you use them to scheme away. You hope to change time itself, no small feat so you are ambitious. You're kind, you treat people equally, as people, all houses as one. And yet you're brave, you're fearless..."

_Oh no you don't! _I interrupted. _Don't put me into Gryffindor, please don't, I want to be in Slytherin, I can make them good! I can help them! Plus I don't suit red. _

"It's not up to you. You'd do well in Slytherin yes, and if it weren't for this knowledge you have I'd place you there. I should place you there, but it's not going to happen.

_Now you listen here Mr. hat..._

"This knowledge you have won't help if you're in Slytherin. You think they'd listen to you? Talk to you? I've been in Ron's head, you're going to have a tough time converting him to any type of house unity even if you become a Gryffindor. This is bigger than you, do you understand me girl?"

I felt myself nod.

"Good! You better visit me after I sort you! Dumbledore never talks to me anymore and I get so bored! Good luck, little big girl. Better be GRYFFINDOR"

I stood up numbly, placed the hat down and forced a grin onto my face.

He was right of course. This was bigger than me. There were lives depending on me now. Plus what was wrong with Gryffindor? It was the house of my heroes, I'd been able to deal with it.

Actually, I realised. I'd love it.

Hand clapped and my friends whooped. Cedric gave me a hug and a congrats as I went towards Hermione and the rest of the first years at the front of the table.

As soon as I sat down I started to stuff my face with food. Merlin's balls, this was good. No screw it this was amazing. I had to suppress moans as I had culinary orgasm after culinary orgasm.

Then my ears pricked up. I nudge Hermione. "Who did they just say?" I asked as the hat boomed out another GRYFFINDOR and Rons name was called.

"Bem Williams," she provided before going back to cheering 'good luck' at Ron!

My fangirl heart sped up. Bem? The only known Hogwarts student to switch houses in Hogwarts history? Bem, the token black boy who'd been added to the films. Bem, the wonderfully depressed wizard awarded with such brilliant lines as 'Black could be anywhere' and 'it's like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands'.

"He's real?!" I spluttered. This was the boy who'd made Harry Potter Marathons both bearable and hilarious.

Hermione just raised an eyebrow at me, not quite bothering to care what I was going on about. Everyone else on our table seemed to be sharing that sentiment. Figures.

_**Thanks to everyone for reading. Quick question, would you prefer/ do you think the story would benefit from being converted to third person?**_

_**Any responses would be helpful!**_

_**Review, follow and favourite if you enjoyed! **_


	7. Chapter 6

_Authors Note: We promised a longer chapter and a longer chapter you shall have! _

**Disclaimer: Surprise, surprise. Still not the owners of Harry Potter. Who would have guessed? **

Chapter 6

Harry, in all his glory, hadn't quite managed to describe the beauty of the 'after-feast newbee's ' Gryffindor party which had begun 10 and ended at 5. Well at least that's when George said it ended at Breakfast. Hermione had dragged me off after about an hour, telling me that she needed me to test her on potions, although how she expected me to understand what was going on in the fourth year workbook she was studying was past me. That said, I didn't mind all that much, the Gryffindor girls bedrooms were more than comfortable enough.

The girl's dorm was utterly amazing. I mean, it's a magical school, so you already know it's going to be awesome. Plus, I'd like to think I had a good idea of what the boy's one was like. However, somehow I was still not prepared for my new bedroom for the next seven years.

The room was way bigger than I had anticipated. In the centre of the room was a rounded table, not too large that it dominated the space, but big enough to be a main feature. It was made of mahogany, with clawed feet and a smooth surface, and it was littered with various objects. Quite normal, muggle looking things, such as makeup and various pieces of jewellery, that upon closer inspection revealed themselves to be a little more _magical_. The necklaces shifted and occasionally emitted high trills, or the earrings warped and changed colour, from magenta to deep navy to saffron. The cosmetics were a mix between, surprisingly, muggle products and wizarding ones, with colourful labels and gaudy typefaces.

The wizard equivalent of fairy lights were strung up around the room - floating across the ceiling and draping over the bunks. They shimmered and shone, and didn't seem to plug in anywhere. They were powered by the magic in the air, which explained their glowing aura.

The beds were where the room really came into its own - the covers were warm red and orange hues. In fact the room practically screamed 'GO GRYFFINDOR!' with it's house themed colours. Not to mention the house crest was featured throughout the room. The pillows were white, and each bed was made of solid mahogany, with thick drapes surrounding them.

Each girl's trunk was at the bottom of her bed, either on the duvet or the floor. Some of them had already begun the process of moving in, which explained the mess.

Hermione and I exchanged looks. Me because well, it would be a continuous sleepover and Hermione because she was admiring the design.

We each claimed a bed - mine was near a window, hers nearer the crackling fireplace set into one of the walls. Both our trunks were already in front of our pillows.

The next thing to catch my eye was what was at the foot of my bed - or rather, _who. _Sootica was there, getting some very worried looks from some of the paintings on the wall, ears perking up at my arrival. I smiled, meandering over to her and scratching her behind her ears. She let out a soft sigh, standing up and stretching, padding in a small circle, before settling back down again.

Not many other people here had pets - I could spot a cage lying on someone's bed, indicating an owl, though the creature itself was absent. Another cat was playing in another bed's drapes, though nobody (including Sootica) seemed to acknowledge or care much about it. I couldn't see a cat basket, so it probably belonged to one of the older students. I watched as it's golden eyes peeped out from the hanging velvet drapes before vanishing back inside.

We'd each been given a large wooden trunk at the bottom of our beds, a wooden bedside table with a lamp and whatever was left from the last occupant - in my case, an old issue of the Quibbler, an empty packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and a broken quill.

Two girls walked in, over to the bed with the owl cage, chattering excitedly. I realised who one of them was after a few moments - Parvati Patil. I smiled, debating whether or not to go over and talk to them. It would probably be a little awkward - I wasn't sure what to say to them. I realised I was staring at them, and turned away, looking back at Sootica for a moment before deciding I should probably unpack. I clicked open my case, looking at the uniform and clothes it contained. My heart raced. I was _really _unpacking my stuff in the freaking _Gryffindor tower. True_ it wasn't the exact place I'd predicted I'd end up in but who honestly cared. This was too amazing.

I tried not to let my elation show too much as I crawled to the bottom of my bed, opening the chest at the end, and shoving my clothes in. It took a while - I'd brought quite a fair it, more than I probably needed to -and it didn't help that I had to quiz Hermione at the same time but we were done before it was completely dark.

By the time I was finished, everybody else was in the room, and chattering excitedly, getting to know each other. I placed my few pairs of shoes on the top and looked around. A few faces I knew at once - Hermione, Parvati. I guessed that the only blonde in the room was Lavender Brown, as I watched her talk loudly with the Parvati.

I smiled, leaning back against my pillow, stroking Sootica. I felt someone throw themselves down on my bed. I snapped my head up to see Hermione lying on her back, holding a yet another textbook above her head. I leaned my foot forward and lightly poked her in the side, emitting a small squeal from her. She sat up, marking her place in the book with a leather bookmark, before turning her attention to me.

"Isn't this exciting?" She asked with a grin. "Soon we'll be falling asleep in one of the greatest wizarding schools in the world!" She exclaimed, bouncing on my bed.

She was a lot more excitable and energetic than I had originally thought when I read the books. It made her more... human. I crossed my legs again, letting Sootica lick my arms, before settling with her head on Hermione's lap.

"Yup," I agreed, popping the 'p'. "Have you managed to unpack yet?" I asked her, too engrossed in my own moving in and revision questions to notice if she had been doing the same. She nodded.

"Yes. I put all my formal wear at the bottom of my trunk, as I probably won't need it as often as my uniform, and casual clothes." She informed me. I couldn't hide a small smirk - okay, maybe the books had been more accurate than I had thought. "And I didn't know what to do with my shoes," she continued. "So I put them on top, like I saw you do. It's a bit of a shame we don't have wardrobes or anything like that to hang up our clothes, but I suppose it would get rather cramped then." She shrugged, petting Sootica's head. "I've never had a pet." She told me, her tone soft, and a little sad. "My parents are allergic." She explained, looking back up at me.

"Well, maybe you can get one now." I suggested, shrugging and tilting my head slightly.

"I mean, the rules say you can. What sort of pet would you like? Maybe a cat..." I said,

smiling at the memory of Crookshanks. "Though, you might want to wait a little while."

"Why's that?" She asked, frowning a little. How could I put this in a way that she would agree?

"Uh... It would interfere with your studies." I told her, my tone serious. "I mean, first year, they're not exactly going to be easy on you, are they?" I explained, giving her a hard look. She frowned deeper.

"You've got a pet." She pointed out. "And dogs are very hard work, a cat is a lot more independent..."

"Exactly." I said sharply. "A cat would probably wander off a lot. You would have to be with it all the time. Besides, cats still have to be fed, and all that." I returned. She

shrugged.

"I suppose you're right," She said, giving me a smile. I couldn't help feeling guilty despite wanting to stick to my guidebook on a few small details.

Someone knocked at the door. "Are you all dressed?" A prissy voice called through the door. Percy, I made a guess.

"No!" I called back, to a round of snickers.

"Oh, you mustn't do that Rube," Hermione scolded me. "Yes, come in, everyone's decent."

Percy stuck his head round the door looking irritated. "Here in Gryffindor house we take rule breaking very seriously," he started before Lavender broke in.

"_Technically _Ruby didn't break any rules and where's Jenny?" It was a good point. The other female Prefect should surely been doing the girls.

"Jenny is currently a little.. out of it."

"More like drunk," I mumbled to Hermione, remembering the Prefect drinking straight from a bottle of firewhisky. Percy sent a quick glare my way before getting on with what he was actually supposed to be saying. "Right now that you're all ready for bed I'll inform you of what will happen in the morning. You'll be woken up by your paintings and then you will be expected to get dressed in your school uniform before being escorted down to the main hall for breakfast. Your uniform should be impeccable!" He enunciated before turning around on his heels and marching out the door.

"What a prat," I mumbled to myself as the door slammed, although I knew from the books how much of a tosser he could be at times, I definitely wasn't expecting quite _that._

"You said it," The unknown girl replied, causing me to blush down to my roots, I hadn't actually meant for that to be heard, insulting authority was fun, but it mostly ended with regret on my part.

"Hi, I'm Ruby," I said, well after an awkward silence had fallen upon us.

"Oh, sorry I forgot to introduce us earlier, I've already met all the other girls, I'm Fay. Fay Dunbar, and you're Ruby Cara Thompson. You kind of stood out during sorting, what with that older Hufflepuff cheering for you." She blushed when she mentioned him.

I smiled slightly in response, not having realised the perks of having Cedric Diggory as a friend. "Oh yeah, I met him on the train, he was nice enough to let me sit with him,"

A loud knocking on the door immediately snapped us to attention, "LIGHTS OUT!" jumping everyone into action in a rush to get everything ready for bed.

Yawning quietly to myself, I crawled into bed and curled around Sootica to form a cocoon. It had been a rather eventful day and I would be lying if I said I was anything but exhausted.

Zombieishly, I dragged myself down to the great hall for breakfast and timetables being given out, maybe it had been a bad idea staying up those few extra hours, either way I was shattered and was no doubt what some would describe as a 'hot-mess'. At least I had managed to clean my teeth and my breath didn't smell. My uniform was certainly disastrous, with my tie a complete mess only achieved after 5 years of having to wear one everyday, and my shirt was crumpled in all types of strange places.

Next to all the other perfect first years I looked like a mini fifth year, dead to the world after an entire night of partying on the first day back of school.

After having glared right back at Percy who had given me a disapproving look, Professor McGonagall marched over to all the other first years, simply handing them a sheet of paper each. As I received mine the first thing I noticed was that I had Charms first, a relief to put it bluntly, the idea of having Potions or Transfiguration on a Monday morning with those teachers was frankly terrifying.

Breakfast was a lot different to dinner. To start with, the benches were half as full, with students in various states of drowsiness dotting them in small groups. I took my place on the Gryffindor table beside Hermione, pouring myself some pumpkin juice and pulling a couple of pieces of toast onto my plate. It was still warm, I noted, as I slathered butter and jam thickly onto the toast. I wasn't sure what flavour jam it was, but one hungry bite revealed it to be cherry, though it quickly changed to strawberry, and then blackcurrant. Weird. Hermione watched my confused expression with a raised eyebrow over the top of her book, before choosing a bowl of cereal and milk. She poured it out, and watched the door.

"It's rather empty." Hermione commented, taking a bite of cereal, which - judging by her reaction - bit back. She yelped, dropping her spoon with a loud clatter. Two tables away, some Ravenclaws and Slytherins sniggered. I sighed, dipping a spoon into her cereal, revealing some small, shiny black objects that seemed upon closer inspection to bear tiny fangs. I identified them as Liquorice Snaps. Hermione was gulping down jugfuls of water to soothe her tongue when I looked back at her. "Looks like they were planted." I mumbled to her, looking over at the Slytherins and Ravenclaws again, who weren't laughing any more, though they were still smirking. "Revenge." I swore quietly, looking back at her with a glint in my eyes.

Between gulps of water, she raised her eyebrows and looked mildly alarmed. She lowered her goblet, and looked at me firmly. "No, Ruby." She said, her voice slightly hoarse. "We can't." She told me, peering into the glass canister that held the cereal. It had been mixed with Liquorice Snaps, and a small packet was wedged underneath. It wasn't hard to tell that they had "spiked" the Gryffindor cereal with menacing confectionary. I suspected that the students had snuck in here early to just to annoy the Gryffindors.

Unfortunately, the majority of first week lessons turned out to be both dull and irritating. Not one lesson had passed in which the teacher had not made a big deal about Harry and his _wonderful_ scar. Either they shrieked like a total fangirl, or they went out of their way to treat him just like everyone else, i.e they picked on him a hell of a lot. Neither was particularly brilliant if you wanted to learn anything, and everyone except Ron was starting to get annoyed.

Well, Ron _was_ getting annoyed too, but not for the same reasons as everyone else; Ron was getting annoyed at everyone else being annoyed. According to him being a good friend involved going bright red and shouting crappy insults at everyone who dared complain about 'The Harry Effect' as Hermione and I had dubbed it. This certainly wasn't in the books, anyway.

Then again neither me nor Hermione really minded that much. We had homework to do after all and boy did we do it. Why Harry had ever complained about having to research spells and practicing wand flicks until the small hours was beyond me.

Wand flicking is something which was previously overlooked in the books and the movies and therefore in my life. All the swishes and flicks I'd practiced since I'd gotten my hands on a wand were for naught and were making it unbelievably difficult for me to actually correctly perform a spell. That said, I was particularly good at Wingardiam Leviosa, the one spell they'd bothered to mention how to do.

With Hermione's help I was on track though, but tired, unbelievably tired. Which is how I managed the great feat of falling asleep under Professor Snape's watchful eye whilst in a room of students shrieking due to minor potion splashes.

The barriers I'd set up in my brain during the summer were the things that woke me up and very near saved my life.

"Thompson," Snape snapped at me. I shot up, eyes unfocused and glassy for a moment, before

widening in horror.

"I.. uh..." I struggled to come up with an excuse other than _I have slept like a highly caffeinated insomniac with noisy neighbours for the last three days. _"Haven't been sleeping well..?" I offered weakly, knowing I was already doomed.

Snape raised a skeptical eyebrow at me, and I could feel the gazes of my classmates, as well as his steely eyes.

"Then perhaps you should time your bedtimes more logically. Perhaps a detention sorting the new shipment of rodent eyes should give you some more energy," he drawled, as if he had planned this specially to get me to sort out his stuff. _Typical. _Well, there was not a lot I could do to make this situation any better. At least he wasn't giving me-

"And, in case you get too much rest, I shall be setting you extra homework on the properties of dragon blood in certain _medicinal _herbal infusions," he added. What in the _what _infusions? This sounded physically painful. Maybe I could get Hermione to do it for me...

I raised an eyebrow at her as Snape flounced away.

"Fine," she grumbled, before going back to feverishly stirring her cauldron and checking that Neville hadn't blown himself up yet.

Oddly enough potions was the only subject I was really excelling in. I couldn't seem to get any of the spell flicks or accents right but when it came to slicing up dead animals and throwing them in a pot I was brilliant. Which may be why Snape was particularly annoyed with me. After all, technically it could be considered okay for me to fall asleep given the fact that I had actually finished my potion.

I stared off into space for a bit wondering when would be an appropriate time to see Dumbledore. I knew I needed to inform him about what I knew from the future, but I was also unbelievably reluctant to.

Maybe it was all those fanfics I'd read where he was manipulative and only there for himself but that didn't really make sense either. Dumbledore had been pretty god damn nice so far, offering us all muggle sweets if we happened to run into him in the hallways. He'd even taken Neville up to his office to check that he was getting along okay in all his lessons before passing on a herbology book and giving him free reign over the greenhouses.

So the question remained; _why was I so reluctant?_

I turned lazily around to face the Slytherins. The Gryffindors and Slytherins had yet to say much to each other apart from the occasional bickering between Draco and Harry. Draco caught me looking and sneered. I saw the words form on his lips; '_mudblood'._I raised an eyebrow at him across the room, daring him to come closer. He didn't budge.

"I love you too, Malfoy!" I call across the classroom, watching as the smirk disappears from his face.

Just as I thought.

I send him a smirk of my own as I turn back to my friends.

"I don't know why you talk to him," Hermione shot at me.

I cocked my head at her. "Why's that?"

"He's a _Slytherin_, Ruby. They're inheritably bad. The whole house is, they're put there because they're _evil_."

The smirk slide off my face only to be replaced with a scowl. It had only been a couple of months but surely it wasn't too much to ask for me to make some progress on my 'House Pride' vendetta.

Rolling my eyes at their predictable behaviour, it finally occurred to me a good way to combat that ignorance.

"You know, I wanted to be in Slytherin. Still kind of do. See all their house traits pretty much match my personality. Ambitious, resourceful, cunning and loyal,"

As I ticked off the traits one by one, I couldn't help but snort at the horrified and shocked faces in front of me.

"You're lying," Hermione stated. "All Slytherins are vile, cruel and vindictive. They care only for themselves and their kind, they were the only ones who went over to _his_ side."

It was almost as if she hadn't listened to me at all.

"Hermione! For gods sake, we've been through this. People from other houses and even other schools _without _a house system joined Voldemort. **I was going to be a Slytherin** and

we're friends, aren't we?"

"Well, of course we are Ruby. But there's the big difference you were _going_ to be a Slytherin meaning you are not in fact a Slytherin. The Sorting Hat knew you weren't evil so he didn't put you in the house of deviants."

I snorted at her. Slytherins, deviants? The Slytherins were nothing compared to us Gryffindors, honestly all our house seemed to do was plan prank after prank. And I told her so too.

"Well, that may be the case but if Slytherins aren't all evil why are you in Gryffindor?"

I glared at her. She had caught me. How on earth was I supposed to get out of this one? Hermione had this uncanny ability to tell when I was lying after all the Occulamency help she'd been giving me, and it was highly frustrating. If I refused to answer she'd declare she had won the argument, and if I told her the truth she'd think I was insane. So a half formed truth it was.

"Because I didn't think you'd still want to be friends with me if we weren't in the same house! Okay! And I was right, wasn't I? Because all Slytherins are evil and all Gryffindors are great."

Hermione stared at me in shock, her eyes turning into plates.

"Rub-b-by," she stuttered. "I didn't think.."

"Yeah, yeah. For the smartest witch of our age you seem to do that a lot." I gathered up my things. Okay maybe that was a low blow but I had to keep up appearances. She knew I had a quick temper so this was necessary. At least that's what I was going to keep telling myself until we reconciled at the end of the day.

I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, her eyes were still massive.

I sighed. "I need to talk to Dumbledore."

"Why?"

I threw her a quick glance, indicating that I'd tell her later. Later as in 7th year. She just nodded.

I walked up to Snape's desk and waited for him to look up. And waited.

"Ah hem."

He still didn't look up. Figures.

"Excuse me Professor, can I have permission to leave the classroom please?"

"No."

Wow, thanks Sir.

"Please, Sir."

No response. I leant forward.

"I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

Well, that got his attention. His eyes snapped up to meet mine, I felt him attempt to having a peek inside my mind.

"Don't," I warned him, giving him a subtle push back so that he'd know what I was talking about.

"Why?" he drawled, surprise causing his dark eyes to light up.

"I've seen something he needs to see."

Short, simple and to the point.

"No," he returned to his work.

Okay, this wasn't working. Time to pull out the big guns.

I chuckled. "Bad Snapey. You of all people should know how important prophecies are."

That got his attention.

"And what do you mean by that Ms. Thompson?" he hissed under his breath, as he launched attack after attack at my weak walls.

"I said stop," I slammed my hand down on his desk breaking his concentration. "And you know what I mean. Being responsible for the loss of the person you love is difficult to deal with but I can help stop you losing more people." His intense glare only intensified, as if he was trying to invade my mind with his gaze alone. That wasn't going to work out. I pulled my own eyes away, looking at his desk instead as I awaited a response.

"You know he's not gone."

I risked a quick glanced at him. He seemed to be radiating both anger and curiosity. He nodded at me to continue and I was suddenly aware of the silence in the classroom.

"People are looking, Sir. Better shout at me or something more in character."

Snape's eyes glowed at that comment. What? It wasn't like it was far from the truth, in fact it was the truth.

"How dare you talk to me like that?!" He screeched, rising from his chair slowly. "You insolent child!"

"Sir!" I cut in. "I prefer the term 'young adult'."

A couple of sniggers from my fellow housemates and a gasp from Hermione. I was playing myself pretty well, maybe my dad was right, I should join up to a talent agency.

"Out! Out! I don't want to see you!" he spit flew at me from multiple directions.

I grabbed my bag from his desk and flounced out, making sure to wink at Hermione as I went passed and blow Draco a kiss (much to his disgust).

As soon as I'd slammed the door I stopped flouncing and raced off to spill the beans and save lives.

_Hope you all enjoyed! Remember if you did please take the time to Faourite, follow and tell us what you liked/what you'd like to see happen in the reviews!_

_Have a lovely week!_

_A Terrible Trio _


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